The Bloody Assizes were a series of

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

started at

Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lond ...

on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the

Battle of Sedgemoor The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset ...

, which ended the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and I ...

in England.

History

There were five judges: Sir William Montague (

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who p ...

), Sir Robert Wright, Sir Francis Wythens (

Justice of the King's Bench Justice of the King's Bench, or Justice of the Queen's Bench during the reign of a female monarch, was a puisne judicial position within the Court of King's Bench, under the Chief Justice. The King's Bench was a court of common law which modern a ...

), Sir Creswell Levinz (

Justice of the Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" plea ...

) and Sir Henry Pollexfen, led by

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

George Jeffreys. Bloody assizes

Over 1,000 rebels were in prison awaiting the trials, which started in the Great Hall of

Winchester Castle Winchester Castle is a medieval building in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1067. Only the Great Hall still stands; it houses a museum of the history of Winchester. History Early history Around AD 70 the Romans constructed a ...

on 26 August. The first notable trial was that of an elderly

gentlewoman A gentlewoman (from the Latin ''gentilis'', belonging to a ''gens'', and English 'woman') in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin ''generosus'' and ''generosa''. The closely related English word "gentry" ...

named Dame

Alice Lisle Alice, Lady Lisle (September 16172 September 1685), commonly known as Alicia Lisle or Dame Alice Lyle, was a landed lady of the English county of Hampshire, who was executed for harbouring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion at t ...

. The jury reluctantly found her guilty and, the law recognising no distinction between principals and accessories in

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, she was sentenced to be burned. This was commuted to beheading, with the sentence being carried out in Winchester market-place on 2 September 1685. From Winchester the court proceeded through the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

, and conducted a brief hearing in Salisbury, where there were no rebels to be tried for high treason, on 1 September 1685. The court went on to the main centres of rebellion holding assizes at the Antelope Hotel in Dorchester on 5 September 1685,

Exeter Guildhall Exeter Guildhall on the High Street of Exeter, Devon, England has been the centre of civic government for the city for at least 600 years. Much of the fabric of the building is medieval, though the elaborate frontage was added in the 1590s ...

on 14 September 1685 and the Great Hall of

Taunton Castle Taunton Castle is a castle built to defend the town of Taunton, Somerset, England. It has origins in the Anglo Saxon period and was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone structured castle, which belonged to the Bishops of ...

on 17 September 1685, before finishing up at Wells Market and Assize Hall on 23 September 1685. More than 1,400 prisoners were dealt with and although most were sentenced to death, fewer than 300 were hanged or

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the reign of King Henry III ( ...

. Of more than 500 prisoners brought before the court at Taunton between 17 and 19 September, 144 were hanged and their remains displayed around the county to ensure people understood the fate of those who rebelled against the king. Some 800–850 men were transported to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

where they were worth more alive than dead as a source of cheap labour (the novel '' Captain Blood'', and the later movies based on it, graphically portray this punishment). Others were imprisoned to await further trial, although many did not live long enough, succumbing to 'Gaol Fever' (

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

), which was rife in the unsanitary conditions common to most English gaols at that time. A woman named Elizabeth Gaunt had the distinction of being the last woman burnt alive in England for political crimes. Jeffreys returned to London after the Assizes to report to King James, who rewarded him by making him

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

(at the age of only 40), 'For the many eminent and faithful services to the Crown'. Jeffreys became known as "the hanging judge". After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, Jeffreys was incarcerated in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

, where he died in 1689. His death was probably due to his chronic medical history of kidney and

bladder stone A bladder stone is a stone found in the urinary bladder. Signs and symptoms Bladder stones are small mineral deposits that can form in the bladder. In most cases bladder stones develop when the urine becomes very concentrated or when one is d ...

s leading to an acute infection,

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

and possibly toxaemia. Writing as recently as 1929, Sir John C. Fox said:

Even to the present day, the mothers of West Somerset control their unruly offspring by threatening to send for 'Judge Jeffreys'.Sir John Fox, ''The Lady Ivie's Trial'', (Oxford University Press, 1929), xlix.

History

See also

References

Further reading